As is well known, withdrawals from Roth IRA's and Roth 401(k)'s are tax-free when the requirements for tax-free withdrawals are met. But does the government have the authority to actually cancel that entire feature of these accounts, even accounts that have been open and funded for years? And if so, is there any way to safeguard against this?

Put simply, could the government do a bait-and-switch?

they absolutely Could --

whether they might depends on how much Brokers would stand to lose and how much uproar voters might cause.

recall, money that goes IN has already been taxed .. not likely they'll feel the need to double-tax.